The Hermit of Suwarrow
"I chose to live in the Pacific islands because life there moves at the sort of pace which you feel God must have had in mind originally when He made the sun to keep us warm and provided the fruits of the earth for the taking.."
From Tom Neale's Book "An Island to Oneself"
Tom Neale was a sailor who dreamed of living alone on a tropical island. He read about Suwarrow in a book and when his ship stopped there in 1945 it was love at first sight. He finally got Government permission in 1952 to live there and in October that year became a modern Robinson Crusoe. For 15 of the next 25 years he lived alone on the island, tending his garden and chickens, catching fish and coconut crabs. In 1966, a friend helped him publish his story, "An Island to Oneself". He was appointed Postmaster in 1969 and stayed until 1977 when he returned to Rarotonga with stomach cancer. He died that year and is buried in the RSA Cemetery on Rarotonga.
